Applied Intuition
Building physical AI that moves the world
TL;DR: Building physical AI that moves the world.
Key Metrics
Milestones
Founders
CEO
CTO
Pricing
Timeline
2013
Qasar Younis and Peter Ludwig first explore starting a self-driving company together but decide Level 4 autonomy requires too much capital
2016
GM acquires Cruise, prompting Younis and Ludwig to reconnect and identify the infrastructure tooling opportunity
2017-01
Applied Intuition founded by Qasar Younis (CEO) and Peter Ludwig (CTO) in Mountain View, California
2017-09
Raised seed round led by Lux Capital
2017-Q3
Built first product: planning simulator
2018-Q1
Launched perception simulator (second product) and data logger within first year
2018
First customer: Voyage, a Bay Area self-driving startup (later acquired by Cruise)
2018-09
Raised $11.5M Series A led by Andreessen Horowitz
2018
Won GM competitive RFP against 28 companies including Nvidia and Ansys
2019
Connected with Scania through Combient Foundry's Venture Client program, beginning TRATON partnership
2019-09
Raised $40M Series B led by General Catalyst
2020
Revenue reaches approximately $60M; team grows with 75% YoY employee increase
2020-10
Raised $125M Series C
2021-11
Raised $175M Series D at $3.6B valuation
2022-03
Acquired Mechanical Simulation Corporation for vehicle dynamics capabilities (CarSim, TruckSim, BikeSim)
2022-11
Selected by US Army and Defense Innovation Unit for Robotic Combat Vehicle (RCV) program, $49M contract
2023-03
Acquired SceneBox for data management capabilities
2023-05
Acquired Embark Trucks for $71M, gaining trucking IP and talent
2023
ARR reaches approximately $207M
2024-03
Raised $250M Series E at $6B valuation
2024
Partnerships with Valeo (sensor simulation) and Isuzu Motors (Level 4 trucks)
2024
ARR reaches $415M, 100% YoY growth
2024-08
Closed $300M+ secondary round with Fidelity Management & Research Company
2025-02
Acquired EpiSci for tactical AI autonomy in defense (air, land, sea, space)
2025-03
Launched Axion platform for multi-domain defense autonomy
2025-05
Launched UK subsidiary with £50M investment for European expansion
2025-06
Raised $600M Series F at $15B valuation
2025-07
Acquired Reblika Technologies; announced OpenAI partnership
2025-08
Secured Ghost Autonomy patent portfolio
2025
Brian Dong appointed CFO to guide global financial strategy and potential IPO preparation
2025
Employee count reaches 1,330; ARR projected to approach $1B
Distribution
Growth Story
Applied Intuition built the 'picks and shovels' for the autonomous vehicle gold rush. Founded by ex-YC COO Qasar Younis and ex-Google PM Peter Ludwig, both with deep Detroit automotive roots, they recognized hundreds of AV companies were redundantly building identical simulation infrastructure. Starting with Bay Area AV startups for feedback, they won GM's competitive RFP against 28 companies in 2018, then expanded to 18 of the top 20 global automakers. They repackaged proven technology into defense, trucking, mining, and construction, growing from $207M to $415M ARR in one year with aggressive M&A (Embark, EpiSci, Mechanical Simulation). The company is approaching $1B ARR and preparing for IPO.
Target Audience
Autonomous vehicle developers, automakers, defense contractors, and industrial autonomy teams
Problem Solved
AV developers were redundantly building identical simulation and validation infrastructure. Applied Intuition provides the shared tooling layer so teams can focus on their autonomy algorithms instead of rebuilding testing infrastructure from scratch.